creative endeavors & the exploration that fuels them

Bird Nesting Materials DIY

It started with my first trip to Terrain, which is Anthropologie/Urban Outfitter’s new gardening cousin with built-in coffee shop and restaurant.

It’s pretty heavenly: well stocked with succulents, plants of all kinds, organic beauty products, gorgeous decor and furniture for your home. If you’re worried that the Anthropologie prices being a little out of your league, you can always grab a cup of coffee and bask in its beauty.

Anyway, while a friend and I were ogling at all of the items they have for sale, I stumbled upon a nesting ball (not available online, similar: Birds Choice Cotton Tail Nesting Ball) and gushed at how excited I would be to have some birds nesting in our yard.

Then I suddenly realized, “Wait, I have this stuff at home. This looks like dryer lint!”***

Though I originally considered reusing the plastic netting from a bag of oranges, like this:

But we have a body of water in our backyard and I couldn’t risk it falling in and doing damage to any of the wildlife. I took to Pinterest, and found out how to make netting with some yarn I already had in my craft collection. I knew it would be easy, but I didn’t realize how easy.

After making the netting, I tied the ends together to make it into a little sack. I filled it with mostly colorful things, in hopes that I’ll be able to spot the nest more easily from my office window.

***Don’t use dryer lint for nesting materials! Use things like cotton, reeds, pet hair, wool, fabric scraps, yarn scraps, etc. Dryer lint doesn’t have the structure that the bird needs for its nest, though it looks like wool or cotton, which does. If you don’t